Emma Freese is desperate when her husband Alfred falls ill at the Howaldtswerke in Kiel. How is the family supposed to get by without their wages? The war has scarred this generation, but now things are supposed to be looking up. The workers want their fair share and are fighting for an income that also gives them room to live. In October 1956, 34,000 metalworkers in the shipyards and factories of Schleswig-Holstein walk off the job to fight for justice and their dignity. This strike is still regarded as the toughest and longest in Germany. Employers and politicians stand in the strikers' way.

Anna Schimrigk
as Emma Freese

David Bredin
as Alfred Freese

Claire Wegener
as Gerda Freese

Maju Margrit Sartorius
as Aunt Margit

Bettina Hoppe
as Anni Wadle

Ronald Kukulies
as Hein Wadle

Max Herbrechter
as Adolf Westphal

Peter Sikorski
as Julius Bredenbeck

David C. Bunners
as Herbert Sührig

Peter Lohmeyer
as Josef Schiml